repost from General Hello from Sue and Spike/

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Spike the magnificent

Spike the magnificent

Member Since 2017
Hi lovely kitty people,
I've been lurking here for the last three months, and picked up lots of wonderful tips. But I need to talk to someone so I am reaching out to you guys. Sorry this is so long. I'll try to go back and do an intro post in a bit.
Spike the Magnificent is my guy. He's a wonderful black and white kitty. But he's an old guy 15.5 years old and he's had chronic health problems for years:

1. Inflammatory bowel disease, Dx 2003, with cholangohepatitis x 1 and pancreatitis a few times. After years of dietary management he has been steroid dependent for 3 years. He was on Hills Z/D dry (more about this later). He started having more problems with vomiting and nausea and his dose of budesonide got upped to 0.5 mg daily around Christmas 2016.
2. Cardiomyopathy and cardiac arrhythmia diagnosed in 2011. We tried treating it but nothing worked and all the meds made him vomit so we just left it alone and it seems to be stable. He gets an echo every year.
3. Hyperthyroid. He got radioactive iodine and his thyroid status is normal (the one bright spot) in this tale of woe.
4. Bladder "sludge" blood in urine and possible small stones on ultrasound. Blood in urine started a year ago, (no ITI, at that time no crystals never been blocked) . Had an Ultrasound in January showing stones.

So this is what happens. GI symptoms gradually get worse, budesonide gets increased in Dec/Jan to 0.5 gets pepcid b.i.d. and I can't lower budesonide or he has nausea and vomiting, cat gets an ultrasound and his food gets changed from Hills Z/D dry to Royal Canin multifunction urinary to try to dissolve the stones. Cat starts drinking and peeing even more than he usually does on steroids (sugars had been good up til this point) and he gets diagnosed with diabetes.

3/26/17 Glucose 526 in vets office start Lantus 1 u bid, I start lurking, buy an Alphatrac meter and start testing. preshot numbers run around 500-600
3/31/17. (after 5 days on 1 u) increase to 1.5 u.
4/5/17 (after 5 days on 1.5 u) BG = +4 = 355, + 6 405, so increase to 2u
4/10/17 (after 5 days on 2 u) BG = +1 = 621, +4 = 506. +6= 519, +9 = 476 so increase to 2.5u
5/5/17 (3.5 weeks on 2.5 units) BG +0.5 = 551, + 4= 427, +6 = 398 so increase to 3 u
5/14/17 (start of week 8 of trying to regulate) cat starts vomiting. start cerenia 4 mg daily get a BG + 4 of 206 but its because he wasn't eating. pee is bloody but he has stones.
5/19/17 lethargic, not eating well give 1.5 u am and PM. go to vet, start baytril oral, shot of convenia, white count is 30,000! presumed pylonephritis. start mirtazapine 2 x week to stimulate appetite. when he starts eating well resume 3 u
5/26/17 BG AMPS + 617, +5 = 556, + 9 = 511 increase to 3.5 units.
6/3/17 eating well much perkier. stop cerenia
6/5/ 17 start atopia for elevated PLA. Cat barfs it up. wont eat, food adverse. cerenia, appetitite stimulant yadda yadda.
6/1o/17. PMPS running high 300- mid 400 Say to hell with the royal canin multifunction renal food, because cat has decided he wont eat it start transition back to z/d and transition to wet z/d. doing well
6/14/17 Cat barfs before breakfast. cerenia, appetitite stimulant yadda yadda. presumably pancreatitis (again). PMPS = 396 so gets 3.5 units.
6/15/17. Today. Ate adequately overnight but peeing like crazy, very thirsty, BG+ 6 = 709 (!!!!!).
His Ketones have been consistently negative uncluding today.

So. I feel like I am losing this battle. Between the IBD and the pancreatitis and the diabetes and my work schedule (I'm a med school professor and I have to travel a lot but the cat dad gives insulin and can do a BG if he has to ) and the recent (7 weeks ago) unexpected death of my dad, and my mum being hospitalized yet again (and she is in Canada a long way away) , I'm losing it. Enough to unload all this on a bunch of people who have never met me and haven't heard a peep from me up until now.

So questions. Why the 700 BG? I checked it twice, and symptomatically it is consistent. I don't think there is any way he could go hypo overnight with a PS of ~400, and he ate enough he should have been fine. Could one fur shot do this?
Is my Lantus toast? I'm still on the original bottle, but I have a new unopened one in the fridge.

Thoughts and support appreciated.

UPDATE I just gave a fur shot when he needed it most for his PM shot I'm so upset. I'll try to get a spreadsheet but I'm not coping well right now and Im exhausted.
 
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This is the best place to air it out and vent....
Try to Breathe.... You are trying.... and sometimes that's all we can do.
Furshots happen..... to everyone no matter how long they've been dealing with this.

Big Hug!

There is a lot going on for him, for you.....
I am going to tag someone @Marje and Gracie
Marje is good at catching things with multiple conditions.

From what I see , I don't see anything for his pain if he has pancreatitis, and stones are also painful. Pain can contribute to the higher numbers and other issues.

You can certainly test the theory and try the other lantus in the morning.....
 
Thank you. I appreciate it. Where do I find the spreadsheet. Can someone post a link? I can't find it in the search function and i didn't see it in my quick perusal of the FAQ?
 
Hello and welcome. My Neko had IBD/lymphoma, diabeties, heart and kidney issues - handling multiple issues is tricky. Kitty #2 (not diabetic) had IBD/lymphoma and at one point idiopathic cystitis. I tried feeding both the same food. It worked except where there were some protein allergies.

Here is the link to the spreadsheet instructions. Getting that set up will help us help you with dosing.

Have you ever tried getting Spike on novel protein wet or raw food? Getting lots of water into them and off of dry will help the stones/crystals. Neko was on 1 mg/day of budesonide to start and went down to 0.75 mg so Spike's dose isn't large. It didn't impact Neko's BG.

Why is he on Pepcid? It's not the best for IBD kitties: http://catcentric.org/care-and-health/the-problems-with-pepcid-and-other-antacids/
 
In the diet department over the last 13 years he has had IBD we've done low residue which worked for a bit, then one novel protein (rabbit) , then another (duck) then another (venison) each time he was good for a while and then got really sick and for the last 2 years hydrolyzed protein diet, which again works for a while. Pepcid because it keeps him from barfing along with the cerenia and the mirtazipine. I misstated the budesonide dose he is on 0.5 ml of 3 mg/ml so 1.5 mg. I was never able to get him to eat wet food. He loves water he's always playing in it. He has a fountain and loves being hand fed water from a syrings (I have a strong suspicion he was a bottle fed orphan from our Humane Soc kitten nursery). I have not done raw..my vet, who is excellent, and a friend, has seen some bad issues with raw, so is not encouraging it.
 
Have you ever been to the http://www.ibdkitties.net/website? It's a good resource for diet and meds. Is Spike on any probiotics?

With my second kitty, it took a bit of work finding proteins that worked. Strangely enough, some of the "novel" proteins (kangaroo, lamb, elk) did not work for him. I tried to keep a rotation going of 4 different proteins that worked for him. He would do one protein a day then onto the next, and that seemed to work better than sticking to just one. I also had to put him on a chicken and turkey cleanse, none for 6 months, then he was OK with them when I went back on them. There are a number of vets against raw. There have actually been quite a few recalls with salmonella and dry food - more so than for manufactured raw.
 
Welcome to FDMB. Poor Spike certainly does have a lot going on. You probably know, but all the words in blue below provide a link to information if you click on them.

Regarding his diabetes, I'm assuming you have a lot more data for the SS but just haven't filled it in yet? I would encourage you to never, ever miss a preshot no matter how high you think he might be.

One thing that stands out to me is you are feeding him extremely high carb prescription diets. Z/D is a whopping 35% calories from carbs and the RC MF Urinary is 24% calories from carbs. This would be like giving a human diabetic a candy bar at every meal. We've seen numbers come down quickly when cats were put on low carb canned or raw food.

If cat dad can help to get some BGs and fill in some spaces, it would be great. I've seen some overdosed cats with SSs that look like this but, for Spike, I wouldn't want to do what we call a "rebound check" where we lower the dose and start over. We've done it for some cats that are obviously overdosed but some, like Spike, where he has so much going on, the best approach is to try and test more, at least temporarily, until we can see if he's got some lows. Dropping a dose back on a kitty like this where it is not immediately apparent he is overdosed can put him in super high numbers for even longer. Testing is the key to finding the answer.

That doesn't mean testing too much. It means a PS every single cycle, as close to a midcyle as you can get during the day or, if you both work outside the home, an out-the-door test and an in-the-door test; at night, the preshot, a +2, and a before bed test. Many cats are very active and run low at night, like humans. On days off, grab as many random spot checks during both cycles as you can get.

We've seen cats here drop from 300 or 400 to 40 and back up in one cycle. Sometimes, they don't even get that low but the large drop will cause a bounce that sends them way back up again.

I would say that 90% of health issues in cats is caused by poor nutrition. Number one on that list is dry food. Dr. Lisa Pierson, a feline nutritionist who often posts here recently did an interesting post about dry food. You can also find a wealth of info about feline nutrition on her website.

It's too bad your vet gives raw a bum rap. As Wendy said, in reality, there are more cases of salmonella in dry food reported annually than raw food. In fact, the reports of salmonella in dry food are drastically higher than raw. In the FB IBD group and also Raw Feeding for IBD cats, we've seen IBD cats healed from a regimen of raw food and probiotics. If you are on FB, those groups are well worth checking into.

Probiotics are a cornerstone of IBD treatment, along with diet. You want a human probiotic. Fortiflora is not a probiotic and it includes animal digest which often exacerbates IBD cats. I, personally, am not a fan of chronic use of Pepcid in people or cats. Since you teach med school, I'm sure I'm preaching to the choir when I tell you that antacids don't just eliminate excess acid. They eliminate all acid and cats (and humans) need digestive acids to digest their food so it can be absorbed.

Here is an excellent discussion on managing nausea in cats.

I hope this has given you some info to consider. Let us know how we can help and when you have all the data in the SS (thanks for doing it so quickly)
 
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This might be a way to get raw and work slowly to wet....

These are just example sbut there are many freeze dried raws out there now.
https://www.chewy.com/whole-life-lifebites-chicken-recipe/dp/127232
or
https://www.chewy.com/instinct-by-natures-variety-raw/dp/127145
https://www.chewy.com/instinct-by-natures-variety-raw/dp/127145
There are rabbit varieties.... and other hopefully novel proteins for Spike.

My cats will eat it like dry..... and prefer it dry and I've been adding water slowly to get them to accept it fully soaked eventually.

You could certainly experiment and see how he responds. I think it would be a HUGE improvement over regular dry food.


I tried this one recently but my kitties won't eat it.
https://www.chewy.com/addiction-grain-free-wild-brushtail/dp/45083
https://www.chewy.com/addiction-grain-free-wild-brushtail/dp/45083
It's probably a novel protein for Spike and I would happily send you the box to try out.
 
Thanks everyone for your input. yes I have a lot more data to enter in the SS but it will take me some time to get it all in from my log.

We are just back from my vets office where he got blood work for pancreatitis, an exam, a cobalamin shot and we pored over the various cat food options. Right now and for the last few days he has been transitioned to the z/d wet food which has 35% calories from carb. Z/D is the ONLY hydrolyzed protein that comes in a wet food! The only thing I can say is that it is better for carbs than the z/d dry or the h/a dry both of which he has been on before. The royal canin multifunction renal only comes in dry but he won't eat anyway after the last bout of vomiting. We discussed transitioning to a novel protein that he hasn't had before, a lot of them run in the 14-16% calories from carbs. He has severe food allergies..like 4k at the emergency vet and 5 days with IV's so I am very obsessive over what I feed.

The vet tech (who is also my catsitter) also helped me refine my injection technique to that hopefully no more fur shots.

But then he pee'd in the carrier on the way back from the vet, so I am just done cleaning that up, and him. I'll update you guys later. Thanks for the support (and the offer of food - I may take you up on that but I am not there yet).
 
Hi and welcome to Lantus & Levemir Land, the nicest place you never wanted to be!

You've already got lots of input from some of our most experienced people, so I'm just going to add this: We did a post a while back for new members, to help them get acclimatized to the Board. Have a look at it, when you have time. http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/updated-tips-for-new-members.173572/

Also, if you haven't already done so (and I'm guessing you have), read all the stickies at the top of the Lantus and Levemir page. There is a ton of great info there, so much that it overwhelms most people at first. Ask lots of questions. The only dumb question is the one you don't ask. We have lots of caring, experienced folks here that love to help.

We're glad you found us!
 
Phoebes said:
I'm getting some of this and is the first time I've heard IBD cats shouldn't use it? Is there one you prefer?
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Rhiannon is correct. I like the Renew Life line but there are other good ones. I just use the maintenance formula she linked because my cats are healthy but, with Gracie (who had IBD), I used a RL Ultimate Flora formula with more CFUs.

Spike the magnificent said:
Thanks everyone for your input. yes I have a lot more data to enter in the SS but it will take me some time to get it all in from my log.

We are just back from my vets office where he got blood work for pancreatitis, an exam, a cobalamin shot and we pored over the various cat food options. Right now and for the last few days he has been transitioned to the z/d wet food which has 35% calories from carb. Z/D is the ONLY hydrolyzed protein that comes in a wet food! The only thing I can say is that it is better for carbs than the z/d dry or the h/a dry both of which he has been on before. The royal canin multifunction renal only comes in dry but he won't eat anyway after the last bout of vomiting. We discussed transitioning to a novel protein that he hasn't had before, a lot of them run in the 14-16% calories from carbs. He has severe food allergies..like 4k at the emergency vet and 5 days with IV's so I am very obsessive over what I feed.

The vet tech (who is also my catsitter) also helped me refine my injection technique to that hopefully no more fur shots.

But then he pee'd in the carrier on the way back from the vet, so I am just done cleaning that up, and him. I'll update you guys later. Thanks for the support (and the offer of food - I may take you up on that but I am not there yet).
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The nutrition and ingredients in these prescription diets is ....in a word...horrific. Mars Petcare, the owners and makers of Royal Canin, is currently being sued in federal courts because of atrocities found at a pet food canning facility. It was so bad, employees reported it to the FDA.

I have to wonder if some of Spike's issues are caused by the food you believe is helping him. And I just don't understand why it seems ok to give a diabetic cat foods that high in carbs. My dad was diabetic and I sure wasn't about to offer him a banana split with chocolate sauce every meal even if it was better than letting him have hamburgers, fries, AND a banana split. Not to mention that you are potentially giving him insulin in doses that he might not need if he were fed a proper diet.

I am just trying to help you and Spike and I have to believe that if you bought him human grade novel protein raw meats and added a balanced supplement like EZ Complete for cats, followed the directions for homecooking it at first and transitioning him slowly, provided appropriate probiotics and perhaps vitamin B12 series of injections (with approval from vet), you might be amazed.

I'm just speaking from experience. My Gracie
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was dx with IBD and lymphoma and was starting to have symptoms. I started homecooking for her and she drastically improved. She's not the sole one that has undergone that kind of transformation. I will never forgive myself for not providing her with a much better diet much earlier.
 
I'm doing my best here: I broke my leg in February, my dad died 8 weeks ago, my mum is in hospital having surgery, and my kitty is miserable,plus I have to try to work at my busy job. I could not make up this chain of events if I tried. He has had so many food issues over the years (plus cardiomyopathy, hyperthroid, and IBD) I'm terrified that switches will kill him. I am not sure why his sugars have gotten so bad, he was starting to come down and I see in my log that things were starting to get worse again before the transition to z/d wet food.

I'm exploring options but i'm exhausted. I'm sorry I probably should not have come out of lurking I know you guys are just trying to help.
 
Spike the magnificent said:
I'm exploring options but i'm exhausted. I'm sorry I probably should not have come out of lurking I know you guys are just trying to help.
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We are happy you have come out from lurking, and we do understand the fear of making changes that may see our kitty worsen.
Please don't stop posting we are here to help you anyway we can.

My George, is not a complicated case, he's pretty healthy FD and his weight aside, I had him on a weight control diet first from Royal canin and then Hills, he got a pitiful portion of dry kibble, was always hungry and miserable, and never lost more than an 2 ounces, and still it took a leap of faith to make the swap on to a diet that the vet wasn't recommending, but we never looked back. I just wish I'd done it sooner, I am convinced that the HC weight control diet he was on was responsible for his FD. His weight is coming down slowly, he's happy not hungry all the time, I wish I'd known what I know now years ago. But I do understand that with spikes many complicating health concerns the decision must be much more scary and difficult.
Hang in there:bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug: and let us know how we can help.

Spike the magnificent said:
I broke my leg in February, my dad died 8 weeks ago, my mum is in hospital having surgery, and my kitty is miserable,plus I have to try to work at my busy job.
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I am sorry for your loss, you certainly have a lot to deal with at the moment.
 
Here are the numbers. Can someone figure out the carb percentage? @Kris & Teasel @Yong
Guaranteed Analysis
Crude Protein (min.) 10%
Crude Fat (min.) 2%
Crude Fiber (max.) 1%
Moisture (max.) 80%
Ash (max.) 3%

Typical Analysis
Calcium (min.) 3.1%
Phosphorus (min.) 1.9%
Sodium (min.) 0.2%
Chloride (min.) 0.49%

Caloric Content 132 kcal / 6.5oz
 
Red & Rover (GA) said:
Here are the numbers. Can someone figure out the carb percentage? @Kris & Teasel @Yong
Guaranteed Analysis
Crude Protein (min.) 10%
Crude Fat (min.) 2%
Crude Fiber (max.) 1%
Moisture (max.) 80%
Ash (max.) 3%

Typical Analysis
Calcium (min.) 3.1%
Phosphorus (min.) 1.9%
Sodium (min.) 0.2%
Chloride (min.) 0.49%

Caloric Content 132 kcal / 6.5oz
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I did the calculation using @Yong 's carb calculator and another online calculator. Both gave the same result:
4% wet matter carbs
20% dry matter carbs (the % you pay attention to for wet food)
This ranks as "high" in carbs.
 
This FD thing is a huge challenge, especially when both you and your kitty have a bunch of other things going on. We're here to help, even if all you need is to vent. Actually, it's good that you came out of hiding so to speak because it's a hard and lonely road to travel on your own. :bighug:
 
So this might work if he will eat it:
https://www.royalcanin.com/products...-food-5.9-oz-loaf-in-gel-24-cans-case-/303110
He hasn't been impressed with rabbit in the past so he won't have been sensitized. it is at least down to 15%carb.

I'm desperate. He's been running BG in the 600's for 2 days now: AMPS, PMPS and +4 and +6, although at least he has started eating, came up on the bed at 4 am today and is sleeping on the sofa next to me. right now. In the longer term I can try homemade novel protein limited ingredient home cooked, or even raw but in the short term I just can't cope with the logistics of researching potential recipes that don't have allergens like eggs, poultry, fish etc.
 
I think you'll have to find what he can and will eat and work the dosing around it. There are people on here who dose around steroids or other BG-raising meds. His SS tells me that his dose needs to go up. We generally recommend 0.25 u increments but he's high enough that you could try 0.5 u increments. In Lantus Land you'll be asked which dosing protocol works best for you - TR or SLGS. Have a read in the yellow info stickies when you can and think about it. The one you select will determine how long you hold a dose.
 
Marje's post wasn't intended to make you feel like you aren't doing enough or to pressure you in any way. She was just sharing the benefit of her considerable experience. Everyone's situation is different, and you have to adjust what you do to your own status. We all understand that and are trying to help in any way we can. I hope you will take all suggestions here in the spirit in which they are offered - only to help! Do what you can, in the time frame that works for you, and we will do our best to assist you. Hang in there! I know you are feeling totally overwhelmed, and it's no wonder, with all you've been through and are going through. We can be your outlet - as others have said, don't stop posting - vent here! We get it!

Please accept my deepest sympathy for the loss of your father. :bighug:
 
Hi there and welcome! You have all ready received lots of good info so I am just stopping by to say hi and to tell you what an awesome job you have done so far with so much going on with Spike.

.
 
@Spike the magnificent I truly am not trying to push you past your limit and I hope you will continue to post. We just want to give you options and you can decide what you can and can't do. I am so very sorry for your loss and all the current issues on your plate. :bighug::bighug:

The issue with the Addiction, besides the carbs, is it has carrageenan and gums which are really an issue for most IBD cats. Have you checked out Ziwipeak? This is an outstanding food, the %calories from carbs are less than 10% for the venison, lamb, beef, and venison/fish. I love this company because they first redesigned their food to get rid of the carrageenan but they were using agar agar which is better but still an issue. Now they have redesigned again and are using chickpeas in place of gums and carrageenan/agar agar. Chickpeas are low in carbs and high in protein. It's an expensive food but, IMHO, the best canned food out there for cats.

I am glad you have a dx and the bupe will help. Did the vet also discuss subq fluids? You might find some additional info that will help in this post I did on A Primer on Pancreatitis. Sending Spike much healing energy. Just double checking too on the test. The one for pancreatitis is either the snapfPL or specfPL. There is another test called a TLI which is for exocrine pancreatic insufficiency but I doubt your vet would run just this test. If Spike had EPI, you'd know it.....stinky, voluminous, pale colored stools, weight loss, general poor body condition.

@Yong and @Kris & Teasel While I know some find it just fine to use Guaranteed Analysis to determine % calorie from carbs, and they might get in the ballpark, I wouldn't do it.
 
I really appreciate all the support. The buphrenex seems to have helped. He's snoozing next to me and not just lying in front of the water fountain. he's eating which is a good thing. He does not have EPI, I **think** it was the specifPL test. No sub q fluids because of his heart, don't want to push him into failure. He's drinking well too..I hand feed him water with a syringe and he loves the attention. Vet wants me to lower his steroids, she thinks they aren't helping much and really doing a number on his BG.

The Ziwi peak looks interesting esp the rabbit/lamb as he has not had much exposure to them. the ingerdient list looks good too.
 
Yong said:
Sorry, I usually say it is a very rough guestimate. Just something else I try to do to help.... I'll stop this too.
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I know and it's wonderful that you help! I don't want to discourage that but I've seen these formulas using GA get close or be really far off. The best way to do it is to call the cat food company and get the as-feds or dry matter basis typical nutrient analysis for fat, protein, carbs, fiber, ash, and moisture and calculate it.

There is a good discussion on how to do this on Janet and Binkys page (see question 2) and she even has the link to an easy calculator that I use if I'm feeling lazy :)
 
Spike the magnificent said:
No sub q fluids because of his heart, don't want to push him into failure. He's drinking well too..I hand feed him water with a syringe and he loves the attention. Vet wants me to lower his steroids, she thinks they aren't helping much and really doing a number on his BG.

The Ziwi peak looks interesting esp the rabbit/lamb as he has not had much exposure to them. the ingerdient list looks good too.
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:banghead: Stupid me on the heart. Well, that's why I always suggest that use of subq fluids be discussed with the vet. So sorry to have forgotten that was also an issue. I do remember now that he was on heart meds that weren't helping somyou took him off.

It's best for cats to get the majority of fluids orally so that's great you do that. It's probably a good idea to slowly reduce the steroids and eliminate if possible. They can also do a number on the heart. :confused:

I've spoken with the folks at ZP and I really like them. While I am not 100% trusting of the pet food industry, I do think ZP is a cut above. There are also many pre-made raw commercial diets. Most are low carb. I really, really like Primal but you'd have to check the ingredient list and make sure there is not a problem ingredient. It comes frozen and also freeze dried.
 
:bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug: These are for you and your family as you try to deal with many bumps in the road of life all at the same time. Take a deep breath and hug your kitty and know that we have all been there on that bumpy road. We understand and will do whatever we can to help you help your kitty. Hang in there.

You've already gotten excellent guidance so I will only add my 2 cents of experience by saying that my kitty has improved significantly since I started to feed raw food about 6 months ago. I find that the RadCat is easy for me to manage and Radar really likes eating it. :cat: My vet raised his eyebrows at me when I told him that I was feeding raw, but he agreed that as long as I was feeding a nutritionally complete raw diet this is the most natural way to feed a kitty. The proof for me is in the bright alert eyes of my furry friend when he is waiting eagerly for me to fill his dish. He knows what he wants. :rolleyes:
 
So I thought I would update you guys arter a VERY rough weekend, I am happy to report that we might have turned the corner.
To recap: geezer kitty with multiple problems Dx 3 months SLGS but not yet regulated suddenly had BG in 700's PM of 6/15 and Sx of neuropathy.

I have a great vet who has been checking in via text 2-3 times a day. Dx pancreatitis 6/16 based on bloodwork drawn 6/16 . I added bupr to his meds -cerenia, budesonide baytril (for pyleonephritis) and mirtazapine on the AM of 6/17 and as suggested by vet reduced his budesonide. last PMPS BG was 575 (down from 730 in the AMPS) and this AM was 469 AMPS on 4.0 units. So while sugars are still extremely high they are headed in the right direction. Plus he ate everything I gave him last night, and while really unsteady on his feet got on the bed this AM for some chest rubs, spent some time licking dew off the pansies (indoor kitty goes out with an escort) and is not just lying in front of his water fountain.

Hopefully we won't get a horrible IBD rebound with the lowered steriods, but for today I'll take it!
 
So very glad to hear that Spike is doing better--you have been through so much!!!

Just wanted to add to the food discussion because my cat has also poultry allergies...we've had him on Primal's freeze-dried raw (which should be rehydrated, but we got him eating it at first by leaving it crunchy). They have venison, pork, rabbit, and a beef/salmon mix. The pork is a huge hit with both of my cats. There's no carrageenan or gums, and my calculations is that all the varieties are <5% carbs. (I hope someone will correct me if that's wrong!) Just another possible option if he needs different food later on. My vet was also not nuts about the idea of raw, but said that she was more comfortable with this brand than with most because they test every batch of it.

I hope Spike continues to feel better, and I hope life gives you a break at some point--you must be exhausted and overwhelmed! You are doing an amazing job of taking the best care of him under extremely difficult circumstances!
 
I'm glad you've seen some positive signs after so much drama. I loved the part about Spike the Magnificent licking dew off pansies. :smuggrin:
 
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